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Slide 1:
Plastic-Eating Bacteria & Fungi: Can Nature Solve Plastic Pollution?
Slide 2: Introduction
Why plastic pollution is a crisis?
Plastic pollution is considered a crisis because it pervasively contaminates
our environment, harming wildlife, disrupting ecosystems, impacting human
health, and contributing significantly to climate change due to its
long-lasting nature, widespread use, and often improper disposal, leading
to large amounts of plastic accumulating in landfills and waterways,
including oceans, where it breaks down into microplastics that can be
ingested by animals.
But how bacteria and fungi can help break down plastic?
Slide 3: The Plastic Problem
How long does plastic take to decompose?
450 years.
Plastic waste can take anywhere from 20 to 500 years to
decompose, and even then, it never fully disappears; it just gets
smaller and smaller.
Where does plastic end up?
Oceans, landfills, even inside animals.
Only 9% of the plastics are recycled in the whole world
Remaining is mismanaged – meaning it is not recycled, incinerated, or kept in
sealed landfills – putting it at risk of being leaked into rivers, lakes, and the ocean.
Slide 4: Discovery of Plastic-Eating Microbes
The bacteria "Ideonella sakaiensis", first discovered in 2016 by Japanese
scientists, is notable for its ability to break down polyethylene terephthalate
(PET) plastic, commonly used in plastic bottles, making it the first known
organism to "eat" plastic as a primary carbon source; this discovery was
made at a PET bottle recycling facility in Sakai, Japan.
Why is this important?
Microorganisms might offer a natural way to clean up plastic waste.
The potential for microorganisms to clean up plastic waste is important
because it presents a natural, potentially sustainable method to address
the growing problem of plastic pollution in the environment, offering a way
to break down plastic waste without relying on energy-intensive recycling
processes or creating additional waste through disposal methods;
essentially, allowing nature to help clean itself up by utilizing existing
microbial communities that can degrade plastic materials.
Slide 5: How Plastic-Eating Bacteria Work
Plastic-eating bacteria work by breaking down plastics using specialized
enzymes. These bacteria have evolved or been engineered to digest
plastic polymers, converting them into simpler molecules that can be used
for energy or growth. Enzymes That Break Down Plastics
● These bacteria produce enzymes such as PETase (for PET plastic)
and MHETase, which break down long-chain plastic molecules into
smaller units.
● PETase works by breaking PET into smaller fragments like MHET
(mono(2-hydroxyethyl) terephthalic acid).
● MHETase then further degrades MHET into terephthalic acid and
ethylene glycol, which can be used by the bacteria for energy.
Slide 6: How Plastic-Eating Fungi Work
Plastic-eating fungi work similarly to plastic-eating bacteria, but they
use specialized enzymes to break down plastic polymers into simpler
molecules. These fungi have shown the ability to degrade different
types of plastics, including polyurethane, polyethylene, and even
more resistant plastics.
Several fungi species have been discovered that can break down
plastic, including:
● Aspergillus tubingensis – Found in soil and landfill
environments, it can degrade polyurethane.
● Pestalotiopsis microspora – A fungus from the Amazon
rainforest that can digest polyurethane without oxygen.
Slide 7: Potential Applications
Bioremediation is the process of using microorganisms (such as
bacteria, fungi, or algae) to break down or remove pollutants from the
environment. This method is particularly useful for cleaning up plastic
waste, oil spills, heavy metals, and other toxic contaminants.
Recycling enhancement involves improving traditional recycling
methods by integrating bioremediation, biotechnology, and innovative
processes to make recycling more efficient, cost-effective, and
sustainable. Since plastic waste is one of the biggest environmental
challenges, advancements in plastic-eating microbes, enzymatic
recycling, and smart sorting technologies are helping revolutionize
the way we manage waste.
Slide 8: Challenges & Limitations
Slow Degradation Rates
● Microbial plastic degradation is still too slow compared to industrial recycling.
● Plastics like polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) take months or even years
to break down, even with microbes.
● Most enzymes work only on specific plastics, limiting their effectiveness for mixed
waste.
Scalability issue
Microbes degrade plastic faster in controlled lab settings, but in landfills, oceans, or soil,
conditions (temperature, pH, oxygen levels) may slow their activity.
Some bacteria and fungi require specific conditions (e.g., warm temperatures or high
moisture) to function optimally.
Environmental risks
Releasing genetically modified bacteria or fungi into the wild may have unintended
ecological consequences.
Engineered microbes might outcompete native species or mutate in unpredictable ways.
Some byproducts of microbial plastic degradation are still being studied for potential
toxicity.
SLIDE 9
Conclusion
Plastic-eating bacteria offer a promising biological solution to the global plastic waste
crisis. By breaking down plastics into environmentally friendly byproducts, these
microbes could help reduce landfill waste, clean up ocean pollution, and enhance
recycling efforts.
However, challenges such as slow degradation rates, limited efficiency in real-world
conditions, and scalability issues must be addressed before this technology can be
widely implemented. Advances in genetic engineering, bioreactor systems, and
industrial integration could significantly improve the effectiveness of plastic-eating bacteria.
SLIDE 10
Question for the audience: Could plastic-eating bacteria replace traditional recycling?
SLIDE :11 MY LEARNINGS :
● I learned to be patience
● I also learned lots of biological terms which were even hard
to pronounce.
●
